tbcgregory Posted June 13, 2012 #1 Share Posted June 13, 2012 I have a handful of questions. haha. My fiancee and I live in Dallas, TX. We're going on the August 11 Baltic Treasures, Oceania cruise from Copenhagen to Stockholm. First off, I know we need visas to be able to roam around St. Petersburg on our own. Has anyone from the Dallas area done this without treking down to Houston to see the consulate? Is there an easy, quick way to do this? We already have passports, so that part isn't necessary. Also, from what I've read on here, Oceania excursions are rarely worth it. I'd be glad to hear any good tips from people who've done this cruise, on what to do with the small time we're given in Estonia, Latvia, etc. without using their overpriced excursions. Thanks guys! I love how active this site is. Cruisers are passionate! Greg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andee Posted June 13, 2012 #2 Share Posted June 13, 2012 We found Talinn, Estonia (if that's where you're stopping) very easy to tour on our own. We enjoyed a self guided historical walking tour of the old city that I compiled from guidebooks and the Internet. Connecting with fellow passengers on your sailing via a Roll Call thread is a good way to get ideas of how to see ports without purchasing the ship's excursions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulchili Posted June 13, 2012 #3 Share Posted June 13, 2012 Greg, Congratulations on both accounts. I think it would be a big mistake to try to tackle St. Petersburg on your own for many reasons - unnecessary expense (and trouble) for getting visas, difficulty getting around the place and using your limited time efficiently to see as much as you can - just to name a few. You can very easily do Tallinn and Riga on your own but for St. Petersburg I would HIGHLY recommend using one of frequently recommended tour companies (Alla's tours, Dan Rus, Red October, SPG tours) You can do some research on Ports of Call portion of CC under Northern Europe & Baltics: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/newreply.php?do=newreply&noquote=1&p=34144776 Also, join the roll call for your cruise and see if you can join others in a group already formed or form a group and invite others to join you. Good luck – you’ve chosen a great itinerary! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbcgregory Posted June 13, 2012 Author #4 Share Posted June 13, 2012 Thanks for the quick replies! I know the visa's are pricey ($170 I think) but we picked a cruise over traveling on our own in Italy, because of the ease of travel (we won't have to book several hotels and get our bags and us to each city in Italy.) However, we love getting enveloped in a city. We have an overnight port in St. Petersburg and thought it would be fun to just get lost in the city for a day & night. We're not very tour oriented. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mura Posted June 13, 2012 #5 Share Posted June 13, 2012 We had a private guide for our 2001 visit to St. Petersburg and got our own visas. Since for some reason there was no consulate in NYC (I don't know if that is still the case), we used one of the visa services to get our visas. The situation was complicated by the fact that our guide was not affiliated with an agency and wasn't able to give us the necessary "invitation letter", which Renaissance refused to do. Zierer was able to get it for us. Somehow, and I still cannot understand how, it worked out to be cheaper to use Zierer than it would have been to get the visa on our own. I was able to avoid Fedx charges for sending and receiving since I could go to Zierer's office and deliver our passports and application forms personally. If you really want to do St. Petersburg on your own, you may want to consider using a service to get the visas. At least that will save you a trip to Houston! By the way, when we took a cab on our own in St. Petersburg, the driver charged us about twice the real fare. It worked out much better when our guide negotiated the fare with the driver on another occasion. He even abided by what he'd agreed upon with Elena. Mura Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbcgregory Posted June 13, 2012 Author #6 Share Posted June 13, 2012 Mura, is St. Petersburg pretty easy to get around on foot? And do they have public transportation? I know this is all stuff I'll look up later. Just wondering if anyone's seen St. Petersburg the way we want to, from an Oceania tour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbcgregory Posted June 13, 2012 Author #7 Share Posted June 13, 2012 Also, my fiancee found something that said we can get a one time entry visa, with an invitation from the consulate, for WAY cheap. Like, $19. Does that sound right? I think it'd be crazy if they really did charge us $200 each, for 2 days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulchili Posted June 13, 2012 #8 Share Posted June 13, 2012 Thanks for the quick replies! I know the visa's are pricey ($170 I think) but we picked a cruise over traveling on our own in Italy, because of the ease of travel (we won't have to book several hotels and get our bags and us to each city in Italy.) However, we love getting enveloped in a city. We have an overnight port in St. Petersburg and thought it would be fun to just get lost in the city for a day & night. We're not very tour oriented. Greg, with all due respect - St. Petersburg is not Italy (or like the rest of Europe). Few people speak English, signs are largely in Cyrillic,etc, etc. Many of the most interesting sights (Peterhof, Catherine's Palace) are well out of town and not easy to get to on your own. If you just want to walk the streets on your own, then you don't need a guide but in SPG that would be a big mistake, IMO. I think you should save "being enveloped and getting lost" in any other city on this cruise over SPG. YMMV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimandStan Posted June 13, 2012 #9 Share Posted June 13, 2012 Greg,with all due respect - St. Petersburg is not Italy (or like the rest of Europe). Few people speak English, signs are largely in Cyrillic,etc, etc. Many of the most interesting sights (Peterhof, Catherine's Palace) are well out of town and not easy to get to on your own. If you just want to walk the streets on your own, then you don't need a guide but in SPG that would be a big mistake, IMO. I think you should save "being enveloped and getting lost" in any other city on this cruise over SPG. YMMV I Second that Emotion! Paul is completely correct, St. Petersburg is NOT the place to wander around alone. The economic situation is Russia makes the problems that we have in the United States look like Disneyland, and....well.....desperate people sometimes do desperate things. If you REALLY hate touring with a group, do it yourself in all of the other ports, and hire a guide for just the two of you in St. Petersburg. It will be expensive, but you will have a once in a lifetime experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mura Posted June 13, 2012 #10 Share Posted June 13, 2012 Mura, is St. Petersburg pretty easy to get around on foot? And do they have public transportation? I know this is all stuff I'll look up later. Just wondering if anyone's seen St. Petersburg the way we want to, from an Oceania tour. St. Petersburg is a large city so my gut reaction is NO. But certainly you can walk around ... it depends on where the ship docks, and we found out the hard way that the dock can literally change at the last minute. The metro is very efficient but it would help to at least read Russian, I think! From where we were docked, the Hermitage was about a 10 minute car ride. There was a young couple on our cruise who walked there so it can be done from where we were docked (which isn't to say it's where YOU will be docked) but I have a rule about never walking to a museum since I know my feet will be killing me just by going through a large museum! We did spend most of our first day there ... Also, my fiancee found something that said we can get a one time entry visa, with an invitation from the consulate, for WAY cheap. Like, $19. Does that sound right? I think it'd be crazy if they really did charge us $200 each, for 2 days. I have never heard of that! I'd do some more research, I think. I wouldn't want to have an unpleasant surprise when I tried to use the visa! Mura P.S. I DO agree with Paul! If you don't want to do a ship's tour, then DO consider using Red October or one of the other outfits that gives you a group visa. Find your roll call and see if anyone has space to fill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aZ4me Posted June 13, 2012 #11 Share Posted June 13, 2012 Congratulations on your upcoming wedding. As Paul said, it may be helpful to check out the Roll Call for your cruise. Here is the link: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1583435 There are others on your cruise who are planning small tours in StP. It's a wonderful city, and I'm sure you will enjoy seeing it. It is large, so getting around on your own (that and not speaking the language) will prove cumbersome. Small private tours are a great way to see a new place, especially one that has so much to see. Anyway, check out your Roll Call group. They'll welcome you and provide a lot of information specific to your cruise. That's one of the big benefits of being on CC. :) (Oh, and you picked a wonderful ship for your "newlycruise" experience!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbcgregory Posted June 13, 2012 Author #12 Share Posted June 13, 2012 Thanks for all of the information, guys! We're going to look into other tour companies and see if there's anything worth the money. I have some more questions, then! haha. I know they have art classes on the cruise. What else was there to do? What kind of activities? Friends of mine, who go on cheaper cruises tell me of all the trivia games, etc. Also, another Russia question, is there a tour that is in the evening that would allow us to check out a bar or something in St. Petersburg? Or, what if we wanted to bring a bottle of vodka on the ship? That can't completely be off the table, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bornfreenowexpensive Posted June 13, 2012 #13 Share Posted June 13, 2012 http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1256265&highlight=st+petersburg While I would not do St. Pete alone, look at this thread written by folks who did it on their own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mura Posted June 13, 2012 #14 Share Posted June 13, 2012 Also, another Russia question, is there a tour that is in the evening that would allow us to check out a bar or something in St. Petersburg? Or, what if we wanted to bring a bottle of vodka on the ship? That can't completely be off the table, right? There is no problem with your bringing on a bottle of vodka for consumption in your room. Go to "already booked" and check out what tours are offered for St. Petersburg. When we did our Baltic cruise with Renaissance they did offer some evening tours, mostly for night time performances. But you can't just wander off on your own if you don't have your own visa. You would have to stay with the group. That is the same situation as you would have if you use one of the tour groups. You really don't want an official to ask you to produce your visa and be unable to do so. Mura Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
azam71209 Posted June 14, 2012 #15 Share Posted June 14, 2012 I spent a week in St Petersburg wandering around on my own. It was not by choice. My husband had a heart attack on the last day of a river cruise. Eventually ended up in Helsinki for bypass surgery (Yea Travelguard insurance). If you're going to get a visa and wander around on your own, take an hour or so to learn the basics of the cyrillic alphabet-restaurant is spelled pectopah but pronounced restauran. It's like a children's code r is p, etc. Then you can at least read the street signs, which will be in English in your guide book. It was possible and interesting to wander, I felt very safe and I visited a number of sites that we had seen previously on the group tours. My husband was mostly sleeping and I had so much nervous energy that I had to get out and walk around. That said, when we went back on an Azamara cruise with friends 2 years ago, we hired a guide and had a great time. If you don't have a week or so, you'll miss too much without a guide and advance ticketing to the major sites. We liked juliaguide at gmail dot com If you really still want to wander and can afford it, hire a guide AND get a visa. Then when the tour is done, you can wander the city until the wee hours of the night if you want to. Or consider a river cruise. Then you have to get a visa, so wandering around any of the stops is quite possible and easily done before or after any included tours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbcgregory Posted June 14, 2012 Author #16 Share Posted June 14, 2012 It's good to hear that some people have braved it and been ok. I've heard that the signage in Russia is getting a tad more English added to them, so hopefully that'll help if we decide to go that route. Can anyone tell me what to expect as far as on board entertainment/games, etc., on this Oceania cruise? Just curious! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legaleaglegreen Posted June 14, 2012 #17 Share Posted June 14, 2012 We did this cruise last year and it was wonderful. I would definitely look on your roll call for others interested in small group tours. If you have four to six people a private tour costs no more than the bus tours and covers much more ground. As noted, some of the best sights are a distance from town and getting there other than by car is quite difficult. One advantage of a small group private tour not previously mentioned is that the guide can "jump" the line. This can save you an hour at the Hermitage or Catherine's Palace. Large groups and individuals wait in line. In addition to the practical advatages of a guide, a good guide can give you much more information than a guide book as well as telling you more about life in St. Petersburg today. The guides are happy to customize the small group tours for your interests--we wanted art, history and plenty of time to take photos and that's what we got. There are night tours as well (we were tired enough after 6+ hours of day touring) but they will also customize to fit your desires. if you want to bar hop or go clubbing, I'm sure any of the good tour companies can accomodate you. I don't think St. Petersburg is particularly dangerous, but it is a large city with all of the attendant problems. In additions, the stereotype of Russians as very heavy drinkers is not without a basis in truth and that could impact on a nighttime experience. The only other tour we took was to Berlin because the bus was substantially faster than the train ride. Again we had a wonderful guide and saw far more than we could have seen otherwise. At our request, she included a stop on Museum Item so we could see the Pergamon Alter and the Ishtar Gate. The other ports are very accessible on your own--usually there was a short wall or shuttle bus to town and then you could just walk around with a guide book. The one exception is Gdansk where the ship usually docks in Gydynia, but it is easy to take a short train ride to Gdansk and then walk around the old city. Congratulations and have a great time. The only other t Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbcgregory Posted June 14, 2012 Author #18 Share Posted June 14, 2012 legal, how was the entertainment onboard? Were there trivia games, games at all? Just curious how easy it is to find something to pass the time besides putting and swimming. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PSU Posted June 15, 2012 #19 Share Posted June 15, 2012 We just came back from a 10-night cruise and there wasn't that much entertainment. There was trivia every day, but it was a port-intensive cruise. There was a show by the Nautica singers at night. However, there were jazz performers that we enjoyed. By 10 p.m. it was quiet on the ship. I don't think that Oceania is known for its entertainment. Maybe there will be more on your cruise (we were on the Nautica). I am used to Royal Caribbean where there are many different venues for entertainment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hondorner Posted June 15, 2012 #20 Share Posted June 15, 2012 ...I am used to Royal Caribbean where there are many different venues for entertainment. When you have a mega-ship with 3,000 or more passengers aboard, there better be many different opportunities, because there isn't a big enough room for everyone to see just one show. In the evening, however, people generally choose just one or two forms of entertainment (maybe the main show and some folk singers in a bar, for example). So, the amount of entertainment any one person experiences is not much different. You nailed at least one thing about Oceania -- half the passengers go to dinner and then go to bed; the ship (except for Martinis bar and a few hangers-on in Horizons) IS dead by 10:30 or 11:00, and everyone is in bed by Midnight or so. I don't think this is caused by the entertainment or lack thereof -- those folks would hit the sack whatever the entertainment. Having said that, what entertainment there is can be pretty good; it just doesn't last very long. The shows start at 9:45 and are over at 10:30. During the day, on a port-intensive cruise, there's no time for dance classes, day-long bingo, "horse" races or hairy leg contests -- besides, the typical Oceania passenger has "Been there and Done That", and isn't looking for that mass-market stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.